Wednesday, May 4, 2011

If you buy something from Joseph A. Bank, you'll get on their mailing list and they'll probably send you generous coupons occasionally. I bought something on their site on Black Friday; since then, I've received two coupons in the snail mail: one for $20 off a purchase of $20 or more, and another for $30 off $30 or more. It's amazing that the minimum purchase isn't higher, because obviously a coupon with a minimum purchase of the same amount of the coupon is literally giving away free merchandise.

The only catch is they're only good in the retail stores; surely they're hoping you'll buy a lot more once you go into the store, but on neither occasion was I pressured in the least to buy anything extra.

I used the $20 coupon to buy two $15 books, so they cost me $10, plus tax.

My $30 coupon was about to expire last week, so I went in, intent on buying these cuff-links I had seen on the website. They retail for $42.50. However, like much of Bank's merchandise, they frequently go on sale, at least online.

Ideally, cuff-links should be finished on both sides; the one-sided, T-bar style links typically sold in department stores should be avoided if possible.

These double lover's knot links at Bank are one of the few sets of double links I've seen for modest, T-bar-range prices.

I bought the silver set. My verdict is that they're not that good because the bar is too long to close the links snugly.

Also, the knots on each link are slightly different sizes. That's a minor quibble because it's unlikely anyone would notice from seeing them worn, but it means you have to look to make sure that the larger knot is facing the outside when you put them on, because that's where it should be in case anyone should notice. Besides, you know they're different sizes, so that should be enough for you to want to place them correctly. But, again, it's a minor quibble.

The bar is the real problem, and it's too bad, because if it were half or maybe even one-third as long as it is, these would be excellent links -- and, if the knots were also the same size, these would be basically perfect, especially for the price. They're worth keeping for what I paid, which with my $30 coupon was $12.50, plus tax. But, if I had paid full price out-of-pocket, I'd probably exchange them for something else in the store.